Narrative Lectionary Key Verse for Today
“And will not God grant justice to his chosen ones who cry to him day and night? Will he delay long in helping them?”
NL Daily Devotion for Thursday, March 18, 2021
by R. M. Fergus, Clergy Stuff
Good question. Looking around, it seems like a pretty long delay. I’m reminded up the prophet Habakkuk who cried,
O Lord, how long shall I cry for help,
and you will not listen?
Or cry to you ‘Violence!’
and you will not save?
Why do you make me see wrongdoing
and look at trouble?
Destruction and violence are before me;
strife and contention arise.
So the law becomes slack
and justice never prevails.
The wicked surround the righteous—
therefore judgment comes forth perverted. (Habakkuk 1:2-4)
Yet Jesus is telling us that God will grant justice to those who are persistent in crying out for help. Perhaps he was referring to himself as the redeemer of all, God’s ultimate answer to the brokenness of the world. God responded to the world’s cries for help by sending Jesus.
Sure, here we are 2000 years later still hearing the same old cries, wondering if and when God will ever grant justice. But at the same time, we see the presence of God’s action in the world in lots of places (see yesterday’s devotion, for more on this). I think it’s my job to keep working for that justice. To be God’s reply to the cries of the world in all I do and say.
God of Justice, call us into the work of heeding the cries of those who cry out to you day and night. Amen.
